Guest Artist + Lecturer
Imani Sims
Black Futurism • Black Feminist Imagination • Speculative Literature
“If we do not dream ourselves into the future, someone else will.”
Imani R. Sims brings the perspective of a working Black speculative artist, writer, and educator into conversations about Black feminist literature, Afrofuturism, worldbuilding, cultural memory, and the radical possibilities of imagination.
Bring Imani to your campus.
NOW BOOKING FOR THE 2026-2027 ACADEMIC YEAR
WRITING OURSELVES INTO THE FUTURE
Signature lecture exploring Black women's speculative writing, Black feminist imagination, and the radical possibilities of Black futurism.
BLACK WOMEN MAKE TERRIBLE MORTALS
An exploration of body, memory, ancestry, power, and worldbuilding in Black women's speculative writing.
A GARDEN OF BEAUTIFUL MONSTERS
An interactive lecture and writing lab that moves students from studying Black futurism to creating futures of their own.
BRING BLACK FUTURISM INTO YOUR...
Black / Africana Studies • Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies • English & Literature • Creative Writing • Humanities • Arts & Culture • Campus Libraries • Black Cultural Centers • LGBTQ+ Centers
Interdisciplinary and co-sponsored campus engagements are welcome.
Meet Imani
Wonder is where I begin.
Imani Sims is a poet, speculative artist, educator, and curator whose interdisciplinary practice explores Black imagination, queerness, mythology, transformation, and other possible worlds.
Rooted in poetry and shaped by a lifelong love of science fiction, mythology, and speculative literature, their work asks what becomes possible when Black people—particularly Black women and queer people—are imagined beyond the boundaries of the present. Across writing, installation, tarot, performance, and community ritual, Imani creates work that invites audiences to follow curiosity somewhere unexpected.
Imani has spent more than twenty years as a performance poet and has taught writing and literature in classrooms, colleges, and community spaces. They hold a Master of Arts in Teaching from Seattle University, are a Lambda Literary Poetry Fellow alum, and have served as a teaching artist with Seattle Arts & Lectures and as an adjunct instructor at South Puget Sound Community College.
Their writing has appeared in Adrienne, (A)live Heart, Unfettered Hexes, F(r)iction, SPOKE, Breadline, and Poetry on Buses. They are also the creator of The Deck of N0NE, an Afrofuturist tarot project, and The Living Archive, an evolving participatory project exploring storytelling, memory, archetype, and collective imagination.
As a guest artist and lecturer, Imani brings the perspective of a working speculative artist into conversation with literature, Black feminist imagination, Afrofuturism, queer possibility, and the radical act of imagining otherwise. Their campus visits invite students to engage these ideas not only as subjects to study, but as questions they can enter, challenge, and create from.
Ready to bring Imani to your campus?